Digital boom: 40,000 jobs in 2 years

Solid growth is forecast over the next 5 years.

Australia’s ICT workforce has grown from 600,000 in 2014 to 648,000 in 2016, as our economy experiences a "digital boom".

ACS’s Australia’s Digital Pulse 2017 report, prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, recorded an average annual growth rate of 2% within the ICT workforce, compared to Australian overall workforce growth of 1.4%.

“Technology skills are fast becoming the engine room of the Australian economy,” said ACS President Anthony Wong. “To fast-track our nation’s digital transformation, and ensure the ICT skills base is there to meet demand, we need a clear strategy and dedicated investment focus in this area.”

The growth rate tracks ICT jobs to increase to 721,9000 by 2022, meaning 81,000 new jobs are required to fuel this technology-led economic growth.

“The ongoing strong demand for ICT workers and skills is consistent with the significant role digital technologies will continue to play in driving Australia’s economic growth,” stated the report.

“The increasing digitisation of Australian businesses’ operations across all sectors of the economy has resulted in greater integration between ICT functions and broader business operations.”

Much of the predicted growth in employment is expected to come from unfamiliar industries.

“We are seeing significant hiring of tech talent by non-tech companies,” said LinkedIn Director of Public Policy for Asia Pacific, Nick O’Donnell. “Half of the top 20 industries hiring ICT workers in 2016 were non-tech, the most active industries being financial services, which jumped from twelfth position in 2015 up to fourth in 2016.”

“LinkedIn’s data shows that the top skills demanded by employers hiring new ICT workers includes a balance of technical skills and broader business skills. Business skills such as relationship management, business strategy and strategic planning in combination with technical skills are highly sought after to drive digitisation of business processes,” O’Donnell said.

Edward Pollitt

Edward Pollitt is a journalist at Information Age. He recently completed a Masters in Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney. His areas of interest include innovation, environmental technologies and scientific communication.